Mutant Military
by MaxRideNut
Summary: The President of the US has discovered the identities and locations of many DNA hybrids, and is now trying to start an army of mutants! GASP!
1. Wha!

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters of Max, Fang, Iggy, Gazzy, Nudge, Angel, or Total.**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story takes place about 1 year after the Itex riots. And I'm not going to tell you what's going on.**

Max awoke with a start, nearly falling out of her tree. Glancing at the Flock, she saw that they were all sound asleep. Fang was draped across a large lower branch, his head and arms dangling on one side, his legs hanging on the other. Iggy was curled up in a ball on a large boulder below her; he had apparently fallen asleep during his watch. Gazzy was doing his namesake a few trees away, mumbling about bombs. Nudge and Angel were snuggled together in a hollow part of Max's tree. Total had stated quite pompously last night that it was undignified for a dog to be in a tree, so now he was sprawled out on the ground.

There! The sound that had awakened her came again, this time seeming very close. Max slowly did a 360, but saw nothing that indicated menace or danger. Still, she decided it was best to wake the Flock.

She opened her wings a bit, and glided down to Fang. When she tapped his arm, he slowly opened his eyes and began to open his mouth. But before he could ask, the forest was suddenly filled with bright light. Barely awake and momentarily blinded, the Flock had no chance to react before they each felt a prick and fell to unconsciousness.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry it's so short… But I plan to add chapter 2 within a few hours!**


	2. Where am I?

Max woke up with a grand headache. Looking around her, she saw that she was in a large room with wall-to-wall bunk-beds—about fifty beds, in all. She was in a bottom bunk near the end. She groaned as she tried to get up; she was sore all over. She heard a familiar whimper from the bed above hers, and instantly went on full alert. Max jumped to her feet, ignoring her complaining joints, and looked to see Angel, strapped down so that she couldn't move her limbs.

"Max! Where are we?" Angel swung her head wildly, trying to look around. Max tugged at the black leather straps, but they would not budge.

"TRAINEES! CEASE!" A loud, stern voice boomed. Max spun around to meet the source. She found herself staring up at a very tall, very muscular man in a uniform. She gulped.

"W-w-what's going on?!" Max stuttered. The man glared.

"You have been recruited for military service. And the FIRST lesson we teach trainees is to follow orders WITHOUT talking back!"

"WHAT?! That's RIDICU—"

"CEASE!" Max was stunned into silence. "It is NOT ridiculous! And I should have you PUNISHED for being so BLATANTLY DEFIANT!"

As Max tried without success to think of a witty response, another, smaller man burst into the room

"Sir! The President wishes to see the newest recruits!" The newcomer announced breathlessly.

"Dismissed, soldier!" He rushed back out again. The first man strutted over to Angel's bunk and within seconds the straps were off.

"NOW! You will walk at attention and follow me, and you WILL NOT speak! Caprendé?" Angel and Max nodded quickly. The man marched out the door, and the girls had no choice but to follow.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Again, sorry it's so short! But a new chapter soon!**


	3. Surprise!

_Max? Where are the others? _Max heard Angel's voice in her head, and was glad that they could communicate without talking. The man they were following kept looking back and glaring at them.

_I don't know, sweety. Let's hope they're okay, _Max thought back. She was also worried about the rest of the Flock. They had been captured before, but those times their captors were familiar and predictable. She wasn't sure how this would turn out.

The girls were concentrating on their mental-conversation so much that they almost bumped into the man, who had stopped in front of a large double-door. He knocked on the door, then simply walked in without waiting for an answer. The girls shared a thought, then followed.

Inside was a room like no other Max had ever seen: metal walls, a concrete floor, and a tiny airshaft near the plaster ceiling made this room about as unwelcoming as the Director's dungeon. Max shook away the memory and focused on the figure standing by the far wall, his back turned. He had pristine black hair; a black suit; and white sleeve-cuffs. She was about to ask the million-dollar question when four more people came into the room—the Flock!

There was no time for happy reunions, however, because the person turned around. Max recognized the face from a newspaper photo she had seen in New York. The President of the United States!

"Thank you, Colonel Harper"—the man Max and Angel had followed nodded at this—"Sound off!" When the children just stood there, dumbfounded, the Colonel stepped in.

"TRAINEES! NAME, AGE, ABILITIES! _NOW_!"

"Max, 15, supersonic flight and raptor vision!" She sent the others a look that said, _Just DO it!_ They caught on.

"Fang, 15, raptor vision!"

"Iggy, 15, blind, but all other senses magnified!"

"I'm Nudge, and I'm 12! I don't know what my ability is called, but I can touch things and get insight on the people who use them, and I can use this ability to hack into computers. Why do people make computers hackable? 'Cause people could keep their secret files WAY more safe if they didn't…" Max covered her mouth and gave her a look. Nudge quieted down.

"The Gasman, 9, mimicry and raptor vision!"

"Angel, 7, and I can talk to fish, breathe underwater, read minds, and I have raptor vision."

Sound-off complete, everyone looked to the President expectantly. He chewed on his bottom lip thoughtfully.

"Aren't you those kids that started all those riots across the globe? If you are, then I have to thank you, _Maximum Ride_. It was your friend's 'blog' that alerted me to the fact that mutants such as yourselves can be of use to my country. And from the powers you just listed to me, I think you could make very good weapons in my army, indeed."

"Whoa! HOLD IT! We REFUSE to be 'weapons' of any sort! We kicked butt of the last people who tried that!" Max ignored the Colonel's menacing step toward her. "And we will do it again if we have to! So just let us GO!" At this point, Colonel Harper lunged at Max, who dodged and ran for the door. With the Flock tailing her, she sped through corridors, looking for a way out. Suddenly, the Flock realized they were surrounded by big men with big guns—all pointing toward them! All nearby doors were blocked, and the halls themselves were clogged at either end by swarms of black-suited men with guns.

_Thoo! Thoo! Thoo! Thoo! Thoo! Thoo! _The guns were shot, and each kid got a tranquilizer dart in their arm. Blackness overcame them once again.


	4. Meet Blue

**I only own Blue and Sandy! When you read a first-person sentence that is italicized but not underlined, it's Max's thought. If it's italicized and underlined, it's a mental message someone is sending her.**

"Unnhh…" Max groaned as she groggily tried to sit up. And found that she was unable to. _Wha…? _ The bird-kid strained her neck as she tried to get a look at her surroundings. _Where am I?_ She could see a white, metallic ceiling just above her, and there was some kind of fabric beneath her. At the very edge of her vision, she could see something dark on her upper arms—no, wrapped _around_ her upper arms. It all clicked. After she had bad-mouthed the President and run out the door, she had been shot with something. That "something" must have been darts that knocked her unconscious, and they had taken her to the bunker. She was strapped to a bed like Angel had been before. _Except I obviously have more straps. Nice to see they value me. _Her wings were cramped, and both her arms were all tingly; how long had she been here?

Someone groaned below her. The others were waking up!

"Guys?" A very familiar voice asked in an annoyed, hiding-my-fear tone.

"Gazzy! Are you okay?!"

"Max! Max, I can't move! Where are you?!" The Gasman's steely control of his emotions cracked for a moment. He regained control quickly, though. _My little trooper! _"Max, where are the others?"

"I'm in the bunk above you. I don't know where the others are, Gazzy. They're probably in other bunks either in this room still unconscious, or they're in other rooms completely. Hopefully SOMEBODY will come in here and EXPLAIN what the HECK IS GOING ON!" _If they are anywhere close to being a smart evil facility, they'll have at least one security camera. If they actually have experience in this business, they'll have 5 or 6 of them. Let's hope they can take a hint!_

"Ugh! Great! Not only am I blind, but now I can't even FEEL anything! Can somebody tell me why my entire body is numb and paralyzed?" This voice sounded much farther away, at least 3 bunks over.

"Iggy! You're awake!" Well, there goes all hint of fear and alarm in Gazzy's voice. His bomb-buddy just woke up!

"Hey, Gasser! How's it going, pal?" _Oh, sure! Let's just pretend that everything's happy and we aren't strapped down in an evil government agency! It's all just fine and dandy here in We're-About-To-Repeat-The-Germany-Incident Land!_

"Uh, guys, not that we aren't in danger or anything, but I don't think this is something to be happy about! Gasman, you and I are going to hold our breaths so that Iggy can hear if there's anyone else in here. Got it?"

Her answer was silence from below her, and Iggy saying, "Ready." So Max held her breath for as long as she could. And since she had both lungs and air sacs, she could hold her breath for over 4 minutes.

"Okay, there is someone right above me who has a heartbeat faster than ours, and there are four heartbeats to my right that have heartbeats like bird-kids." _Wait—FOUR?! That would mean seven bird-kids in this room, which is more than my Flock! Who are the other two experiments, and what is the one above Iggy?_

"So, eight people in this room, seven of which are avian, and the last one, we don't know. Iggy, is number eight making any noises that could identify it's species?"

There was a pause. Max waited patiently for the first 2 minutes or so, because she knew he was listening. But somewhere at the ten minute mark, she couldn't take it anymore—"Iggy? Any clue?"

"No. It's really weird; the heartbeat keeps speeding up and slowing down, but it's not like what Fang's did—it stays smooth; a few minutes of fast and smooth, and then a couple minutes of slow. It's like it keeps changing between our heartbeats when we're excited and a human's heartbeat when they're in a coma. I don't get it!"

"That is weird!" A new voice spoke up—a voice Max didn't recognize. It sounded like a very young girl, but she spoke with a lot of authority. _I guess it could be one of the other captured experiments, but I still should be cautious._

"Who are you?" Iggy beat her to the chase.

"My name is Blue. I sleep on the lower bunk right next to yours. Who are you?"

"Why should we tell you? For all we know, you're a repeat of my little brother!" _Nice one, Max! Accuse a little girl of being an Eraser! …Still, better paranoid than dead._

"Um, what happened to your brother that would keep you from trusting me? He looks fine." _Who? Oh, Gazzy._

"The Gasman is my Flock brother, but not my biological brother…Okay, he has avian biology like me, but our parents weren't the same. My brother Ari volunteered to become an Eraser and spent the last four years of his life trying to kill me…before he expired. He was eight." _Come on, Max! Don't cry! I'm the Invincible Maximum Ride! I don't cry!...Aw, shucks. I'm crying._

"Oh…I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to bring back bad memories! Please don't cry!" Max heard a creak, and a very worried face appeared above her. Blue looked about three or four years old, with popping blue eyes and some lean baby fat still clinging to her cheeks. She looked like she was going to bawl because she had hurt Max's feelings.

The older bird-girl sighed. "It's okay. I didn't really know him that well. I didn't even know we were related until five hours before he died." She continued when Blue looked at her in confusion. "I didn't know who my parents were. Ari's dad ignored him and loved me. He thought it was because I was an experiment. He was a four ear old human. After Jeb abandoned him, Ari asked the whitecoats to make him an experiment. He didn't get to choose what kind. Then Jeb assigned Ari to kill me, and yet still loved me more than him." Max laughed darkly, "Shakespeare himself couldn't come up with a tragedy like this."

"Who's Shakespeare?" _Oh, right. Most experiments don't take literary analysis in an actual school. Heck, most experiments usually don't get out of the labs without being blown to bits._

_Ain't that the truth!_

_WHAT?! Who just mindspoke, because I KNOW that wasn't Angel!_

"Who's Angel?" Blue asked. _Yes, I can communicate through the mind. Sorry, I thought I was talking out loud…_ "Anyway, who IS Shakespeare?" Blue repeated.

"Some play writer hundreds of years ago who liked butchering his characters. Why did you sound so much older a second ago?"

_The crazies (I think you called them whitecoats) made it so that I stopped growing after I turned four and a half. I'm actually nine._

"Max? Who's that?" _Angel's awake! Time to ask the routine questions, even though they usually involve depressing answers._

"Angel! Are you okay, how do you feel?"

"Other than cramped wings and extremely tingly arms, not too bad, actually."_I'm fine! Apparently these guys know not to hurt the merchandise. Do you want me to do a background check on her?_

"Hey!" Blue pouted as she tried to keep her dignity. Which she did very well, somehow… _Must be the toddler face._

"Did you hear that?! Usually no one else hears when I send a message!" Angel was obviously surprised.

_I'm not a very powerful telepath. I can't always control it. Mostly I just use my hydrokinetic power. _

"Your whodawhatnow?" Angel sounded completely baffled. _Either she sent that to Angel too, or Angel was listening in._

_Power over water._

_Why aren't you talking out loud?_

_They have voice recorders in here. At sound-off, I didn't tell them about my ability to move water and freeze stuff at will, and I don't plan on telling them now._

_You aren't the only one who hid at least one of your powers. They don't know that Iggy can make bombs. _Max figured she could dangle a string of the very thick rope of the Flock's lives and see how Blue reacted.

_So, if you're going to talk about stuff you don't want them to know about, mindspeak it.__ (Interesting. She didn't directly ask about the powers I mentioned. Either she's a good guy, or she's a very smart bad guy. Hm.)_

_Hey, Blue, what DNA do you have?_

_Blue Jay. Which lab did you guys come from? I was under the Eiffel Tower._

_In France? How come you don't speak French?_

_I do. I just had Sandy as a cage partner. _Blue wandered over to meet Angel face to face. How Max knew that, she didn't have a clue.

_Who the heck is Sandy and how does that help you speak English?_

_Sandy spent most of his time in Alaska, but was moved to France when I was five. The Alaskan labs had lots of Canadian crazies. They spoke both French and English. Sandy taught me English…Speaking of which, what is the real English word for crazies? Sandy didn't know that one._

_They call themselves "scientists" but we call them "torturers". Scientists do things for the sake of learning, but the white coats hurt us so they could find out how to hurt everyone else. They hurt just because they wanted too. Torturers._

_Good point. I guess you came from one of the American labs? What DNA are you?_

_We don't know. We're all bird hybrids, but Angel may have a very minute amount of fish._

_What does "minute" mean?_

_Very, very small. Do you know the word minimum? The absolute smallest amount possible? Minute is extremely small._

_But you don't know which birds?_

_No clue._

_What color are your wings? I can see the tips of the older boy talking; his flight feathers are dark brown with some yellowish speckles._

_Iggy's wings are gold and brown, spot-like. Angels wings are pure white. Fang has black wings with a purplish sheen. Nudge has brown and russet. And I have tan and light brown wings with dark brown spots and speckles. The Gasman's wings are red._

_I think Angel has albino DNA, and the blind one…Iggy? With your gold and brown wings, I'm betting you're a Eurasian Eagle Owl. Whoever Fang is could be a crow, or a black vulture. The darker girl on my other side might have DNA like a hawk of some kind, maybe African Goshawk. Is she Nudge? She's lying on her stomach._

_Probably. Can you guess what I am?_

_**Your avian DNA is from a Red-Tail Hawk and a Barn Owl. You still have to save the world, Max.**_

_Ho, Voice. Long time no annoy._

_Max? Who's that? I thought Angel and I were the only telepaths here._

_That's my Voi—Hey! How did you know my name?_

_The other telepath said your name. Remember how I said I can't always control it?_

_Meaning you accidentally overhear things?_

_Yeah. Who is it?_

_That's the Voice inside my head. I don't know who it is. I _thought_ it was my dad, but it says it's not._

_**Jeb can DO the Voice, but he isn't THE Voice.**_

_Huh?_

_It means that Jeb can talk out loud in that weird unidentifiable Voice, but he isn't the person who actually talks to me in my head. And since the Voice keeps telling me to "save the world" without actually telling me _how_, I have reason to hate both._

_**Hate me if you want to, love me if you can.**_

_What? The Voice has gone even more insane!_

"Um, Max? Why hasn't the dark boy above me woken up? They brought him in here at the same time they brought you, so I'll guess he's Fang. But why hasn't he woken up?" Blue sounded almost panicked._ Why be concerned? She barely knows us!_

_**You DIDN'T know Ella. **_

_Hush it._

"Why only worry about Fang? Nudge isn't awake either." Max asked. She heard a gulping sound.

"Yes I am! I just had a very sore throat and I didn't want to talk." _Note to self: sore throat equals silence!_

"But still! Fang should wake up soon! What makes you think he won't?"

"…He just went into a coma."

* * *

**DuN Dun DUNNN!! Revew and I may update soon! How'd you like?  
**


	5. In the Darkness

**Hey all! I'm continuing it! In POV! YAY! Okay, so the italicized (tilted) lines are Fang's POV, and the non-italicized lines are not. Not saying anything more! **

_**Fang POV**_

_Where am I? What happened? Why is everything so dark?_

Error: Need Input

_What was that? Why did some robot error message just scroll across my vision? _

Error: Need Input

_There it went again! How did it do that?_

Error: Need Input—Error: This File Cannot Be Accessed

_What file? How am I seeing computer errors?_

Error: Need Input

_Okay, this is just annoying! I need to know what's going on!_

Error: Very Bothersome; Need Input

_Bothersome? What computer error says "bothersome"? Programs don't have emotions; they can't be bothered!_

Error: Confused Emotions—Error: This File Cannot Be Accessed

_Are these errors describing my thoughts? What file?_

Error: Not Fully Understood; Need Input

_Okay, if these errors are relaying my thoughts, does that mean I understand now?_

Error: Not Fully Understood

_Wait a minute! Why didn't it say "Need Input"?_

Error: Not Fully Understood—Error: This File Cannot Be Accessed

_Is the file my mind?_

Correct—Error: This File Cannot Be Accessed

_I think it just said I'm right, and the file IS my mind, but I always have access to my mind! What's it talking about?_

Error: Need Input

_Is someone ELSE trying to access my mind?_

Correct—Error: This File Cannot Be Accessed

_If I'm thinking right, and I'm neither crazy nor looking too much into coincidence, than my thoughts are behaving as commands to some computer-thing, and someone else is also giving it commands. So how do I know which commands it's answering?_

Correct—Error: This File Cannot Be Accessed

Message: Fang?

_I got a message? Who sent it? How do I answer it?_

Message: Fang, are you receiving my message?

_Yes yes YES! I need to answer! Reply "Yes"!_

Message: WOW! Fang, Angel thinks your mind may be stuck in the computer!

_Really? I second that wow! Reply "Who is this?"_

Message: It's Max. What's it like?

_Being in a computer? Really dark, but Error messages and the messages being sent to me keep scrolling across my vision, like I'm in a big tube and the walls are screens. Reply "Weird. How are you sending messages to me?"_

Message: Typing. And I'm about to get caught. TTYL

_Max learned chatspeak? Even weirder!_

Error: This File Cannot Be Accessed

_Back to the error messages? Wonderful. More annoyance._

Error: Wonderful Annoyance—Error: This File Cannot Be Accessed

_Hey! If I'm in the computer, can I get on the internet?_

Correct—Error: This File Cannot Be Accessed

_Cool! Search "President Mental and Emotional Health"_

Google Search has found 8 websites related to your search. 

_Cooler! Open first link._

A recent doctor appointment showed that President Shinerson had a large amount of—

_Hey! Why did the words stop scrolling? Bring it back up!_

Error: This File Cannot Be Accessed

_Is that answering me, or somebody else?_

Security Scan Complete. 2 Viruses Found; 1 Virus Destroyed, 1 Virus Quarantined

_I've been quarantined? I mean, I must have been quarantined, because I certainly wasn't the virus that was destroyed! Oh, well. I'll find a way around it tomorrow. Let them think they fixed the problem. Makes it easier for me if they're off guard._

**Hope you liked! Review, and I'll try to update soon! _Scratch that; I'm working on another story for school right now. I know what I want to do with the next chapter, but I might have to put it on hold for a few weeks. Sorry! ...But I'd still like reviews! It shows me that people actually care!_**

**PS: If there are any computer geniuses out there reading this, I need more examples/suggestions on types of messages that a computer might bring up and what types of situations they would happen in! Anyone know any ways that a hacker might get past firewalls, or how they might create a program that gets past firewalls?**


End file.
